DIVA, an ensemble of fifteen musicians headed by drummer Sherrie Maricle, celebrates 30 years. The group performs all over the world, playing original contemporary and mainstream big band jazz composed and arranged to fit 
their distinct ensemble sound as well as highlight their soloists’ unique personalities and styles. Since their premiere performance over 30 years ago, they have played premiere venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club, Newport Jazz Festival, Symphony Hall in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Cleveland and the Hollywood Bowl, among may others globally.
A Collective Cy: Jeff Harnar Sings Cy Coleman puts the spotlight on a titan of popular song whose work won multiple Tony, Grammy and Emmy awards over a six-decade career. Adapted from an award-winning stage show, A Collective
Cy represents 40 years of Harnar’s fruitful collaboration with music director Alex Rybeck. Here Rybeck conducts a full orchestra with charts arranged specifically for this recording, on 17 Coleman songs, from classics to lesser-known gems. In addition, the album includes special guest vocalists Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Nicolas King and Danny Bacher (who also solos on saxophone), along with featured guitarist Sean Harkness. The bassist Jay Leohart and Rybeck show a different skill set with their backup vocals on “(Doop Doo-De-Oop) A Doodlin’ Song.”
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis offers a new collection of holiday music: Big Band Holidays III, an ei
ght-song album featuring music recorded over the past decade during Jazz at Lincoln Center’s titular holiday series. The recording spotlights an inter-generational roster of guest vocalists, including Kim Burrell, Alita Moses, Catherine Russell, Denzal Sinclaire and Vuyo Sotashe. Producer and arranger is Marcus Printup. Tracks include “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” “What Child Is This (featuring vocalist Vuyo Sotashe) and more.
Trumpeter Chris Botti’s Vol. 1 is a ballads collection including “Old Folks,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Blue In Green,” as well as a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You” and the vocal feature “Paris” with John Splithoff. Vol. 1 is a return to Botti’s musical roots aimed at delivering a cinematic quality of beauty and elegance.
Vocalist and flutist Audrey Silver‘s jazz-inspired tribute to the musical Oklahoma!, her 5th release as a leader, features ten of her own jazz interpretations of songs from the show. Silver wanted the album to have an intimate, jazz chamber music feel, so she choose voice, guitar and piano for the core group. To achieve her vision, she brought on board some top New York players.
The cast recording of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends: A Celebration (Live at the Sondheim Theatre) is a 2-disc CD set with a 16-page booklet with color photography and 
essays by Cameron Mackintosh and David Benedict. It features Broadway, West End and movie performers, delivering 41 songs. The album features stars including Christine Allado, Michael Ball, Rob Brydon, Ashley Campbell, Helena Bonham Carter, Anna-Jane Casey, Petula Clark, Janie Dee, Judi Dench, Haydn Gwynne, Rob Houchen, Holly-Anne Hull, Bradley Jaden, Damian Lewis, Julia McKenzie, Ian McLarnon, Julian Ovenden, Bernadette Peters, Sian Phillips, Imelda Staunton and others.
The original Broadway cast recording of New York, New York is available as a 2-disc CD and digitally with five bonus tracks, which include four original demo recordings of the show’s score, including one performed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and John Kander (“Can You Hear Me?”), and three performed by John Kander and Fred Ebb (“Along Comes Love,” “Wine and Peaches” and “New York, New York”). In addition, a special instrumental version of the title song is included.
Vocalist Angela DeNiro and saxophonist/arranger Ron Aprea have released Swingin’ With the Legends 2, an album of love songs written by some of the greatest composers of the American Songbook. The recording features songs such as “You’d Be So Easy To Love,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Two for the Road,” On Green Dolphin Street” and more.
Winter Wonderland features Yuletide jazz played by The George Gee Swing Orchestra. Ten seasonal musical favorites, arranged 
by David Gibson, with special vocals by singer John Dokes, are played by a nine-piece group and includes “Winter Wonderland Mambo;” a hard bop transformation of “What Child Is This?” finds the group sounding a bit like Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Dokes takes his first of five vocals with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” which is usually a quiet ballad, is performed in an uptempo version, while “Jingle Bells” has the feel of New Orleans rhythms.
Berklee-based pianist, composer, vocalist and educator Dr. John Paul McGee celebrates the holidays with 11 tracks of original and classic selections with his Gospejazzical sound. McGee’s musical hybrid spices up the holiday season in solo, duo, trio and quartet configurations. The Caribbean-cadenced “Emmanuel,” the solemn sonorities of “The Manger Medley” and “Mary Did You Know” are original compositions. Well-known Christmas tunes include “Little Drummer Boy,” “Christmastime is Here” and “Oh Holy Night.”
Singer and songwriter, Robert Bannon’s Rewind was recorded at The Green Room 42 in New York, showcasing Bannon’s nostalgic journey through his Italian/Irish heritage and his beloved home state of New Jersey. Featuring a collection of 10 songs, Rewind aims to transcend boundaries with songs such as “Every Single Day” from Harmony and the “Mega Manilow Medley,” plus a solo version of “What You Own” from Rent, among others.
Merry Christmas, Darling is the debut holiday album from Tony Award-winning 
Broadway star Stephanie J. Block. The recording features secular and sacred seasonal classics, in addition to new musical discoveries. The album includes “When You Hold Me in Your Arms (It’s Christmas),” a duet with her husband, fellow Broadway star Sebastian Arcelus. The album’s take on the evergreen “Little Drummer Girl” is a duet with Block’s daughter Vivienne Arcelus. Other highlights include the title track, originally popularized by The Carpenters, in addition to “And Snow” and “Winter White,” two recent additions to the holiday canon. Standards include ‘Sleigh Ride’ and ‘What Child Is This?’
Cal Tjader—Catch The Groove—Live at the Penthouse 1963-1967 is the first official release of previously unissued live Tjader music in nearly 20 years. These sets were recorded in the 1960s at the Penthouse Jazz Club in Seattle. A limited edition 3-LP set follows a deluxe 2-CD set and digital download. Vibraphone legend Cal Tjader is heard here with a variety of quintets. Ahmad Jamal—Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse 1966-1968 is the third and final 2-LP set of previously unissued live recordings by Ahmad Jamal capturing the pianist’s spectacular 1966-68 performances. The package includes reflections by Jamal himself, interviews with fellow pianists and more. Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly—Maximum Swing: The Unissued 1965 Half Note Recordings celebrates Montgomery’s centennial with the first legitimate release of these hard-hitting 1965 dates at New York’s Half Note. This live archival treasure is available as three-LPs, or CD and digital.
Brubeck Editions has released The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Live From The Northwest, 1959. This collection of recordings from two concerts is a 
celebration of the quartet’s singular sound: Brubeck’s pianistic refrains, which dance with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s fluid melodic invention. The rhythm section is bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello. The music was recorded on April 4, 1959 at the Multnomah Hotel in Portland and on April 5th in the auditorium at nearby Clark College.
Pianist Christian Sands’ Christmas Stories, the first album of holiday songs from the 
two-time Grammy® nominee, brings Sands together with members of his extended musical family: at the heart of the album is his working quartet, with guitarist Marvin Sewell, bassist Yasushi Nakamura and brother, Ryan Sands, on drums. They’re joined by a number of special guests: saxophonist Jimmy Greene and vibraphonist Stefon Harris, both mentors to Sands, plus percussionist Keita Ogawa and guitarist Max Light. The album is a mix of the old and new, beginning with“Jingle Bells,” transformed into a blues built on the swing of Miles Davis’ “All Blues.” Also featured are “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a Latinized “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and more.
GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter Gregory Porter releases his first-ever Christmas album, a tribute to songwriters, singers and interpreters including Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Dinah Washington and Nat King Cole. The album also contains three original tracks. Standards include “Silent Night,” “Little Drummer Boy,” Marvin Gaye’s “Purple Snowflakes,” Stevie Wonder’s “Someday At Christmas,” and Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” which features a special guest appearance by GRAMMY-winning vocalist Samara Joy.
Singer-pianist Sarah McKenzie has released Without You, an album of Brazilian jazz that includes four originals, several Antonio Carlos Jobim songs and a few other classics, particularly in salute to pianist Oscar Peterson and songwriter Michel Legrand. Songs iclude “Gentle Rain,” “Corcovado,” “Mean What You Say,” “Quoi, Quoi, Quoi” and more. McKenzie, who grew up in Australia, was inspired by such storytelling pianist-singers as Shirley Horn, Nat King Cole, Harry Connick Jr. and Blossom Dearie.
MID-CENTURY MODERN from the team of Robert Grusecki and Anya Turner, features their newest original tunes (available at AnyaRobertMusic.com). All ten songs are from the duo’s award-winning ninth studio album, plus a bonus title (“In This Raggedy Time”). Piano/Vocal with guitar chords. 94 pages. Other tunes include the title song, plus “Small Town,” “The Sound of My Voice,” “Our Little Secret” and more.
ROSE MARIE SINGS: The Complete Mercury Recordings and More is the first ever CD of TV and stage personality Rose Marie (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) issued to celebrate her centenary and released with the support of her family. 
Featuring recordings from four decades (1938-1966) and including previously unreleased tracks, it includes liner notes by her daughter and photos from the family archives. The track Llist includes gems such as “My Mama Says ‘No, No’ “with Dick Maltby’s Orchestra (1946), “In The Land Of The Buffalo Nickel” with Dick Maltby’s Orchestra (1946), “Them Who Has Gets” with Earle Hagen’s Orchestra (1946), “Cheap Tomatoes” with the Van Alexander Sextet (1947)—written by Rose Marie, “Two Dollars Please” with Carl Stevens & His Orchestra (1957), “One For My Baby” with Frank DeVol & His Orchestra (1955) and much more.
Veronica Swift‘s self-titled album features 11 tracks that combine elements of pop, bebop, swing, funk, rock and jazz. The album is 
a kaleidoscope of styles and a tribute to all the artists through time that have inspired Swift, who was raised in Charlottesville, VA in a family of musicians: her father is the late jazz pianist Hod O’Brien and her mother is singer Stephanie Nakasian. Swift recorded her first album, Veronicas House of Jazz, when she was 9 (!) and began touring with her parents around that time. She has continued to record her own material, and collaborate and tour with others such as Chris Botti, Benny Green, Winton Marsalis and Michael Feinstein.
Jazz vocalist, Lauren Bush, launches her 3rd album, Tide Rises. Bush has delved into adapting a few original ideas into new songs including a poem by
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, transformed into the title track. Also included is a lesser known bossa nova by London’s Earl Okin, “Madrugada,” and a vocalese to a classic Chet Baker tune, “Do It the Hard Way” (now entitled “Happier On My Own”). Bush also wrote the lyrics to “Easy Does It,” a song that started out as a simple organ melody on YouTube. Themes include growth and change, seasons and nature and the cycles we go through, such as Joni Mitchell’s “Circle Game.” Standards include “Nobody Else But Me” (J. Kern/O. Hammerstein II) and “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” (R. Rodgers & O. Hammerstein II).
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2023 Broadway cast recording), features Josh Groban and Tony Award winner Annaleigh Ashford, singing the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim.
The recording also features Jonathan Tunick’s original 26-player orchestration from the original 1980 production. Also on the cast album are Jordan Fisher (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen) as Anthony, Gaten Matarazzo (“Stranger Things”) as Tobias, Tony Award winner and Laurence Olivier Award nominee Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I) as Beggar Woman, Maria Bilbao (On Your Feet!) as Johanna, Jamie Jackson (The Last Ship) as Judge Turpin, John Rapson (Les Misérables) as Beadle Bamford, and Nicholas Christopher (Hamilton) as Pirelli.
Pianist/composer Olivia Pérez-Collellmir has debuted her full-length album OLIVIA, a diverse collection reflecting her musical interests. The recording explores the marriage of flam
enco music and Latin jazz with Spanish folk traditions and classical music, also capturing the Catalan sounds of her hometown of Barcelona, Spain, with some escapes to India and the Middle East. Selections include a handful of original songs by Olivia, and arrangements of pieces by Maurice Ravel and Frederic Mompou, a Catalan composers. Classical music arrangements are performed by a small chamber ensemble laced with the rhythms of traditional flamenco music, vocals, and handclapping.
Ivan Lins, one of the most recorded Brazilian composers in the world with four Latin Grammy Awards, has released, My Heart Speaks, performing rare gems from his catalog. He is backed by the 91-piece symphony of Tbilisi, capital of the Republic of Georgia. There are appearances by Randy Brecker, Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit, and Tawanda, winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. Hand-picked songs iclude “Renata Maria,” about a dreamlike goddess who appears on a beach and drives a man crazy, and “Corpos” (Bodies), which dates from the darkest years of Brazil’s military dictatorship, when political dissenters were disappearing.
An expanded 20th anniversary edition of CELEBRATING BIX! contains additional songs that did not fit on the original, single CD. The concept was not to merely re-create Bix’s original recordings but to showcase the indi
vidual talents of the Bix Centennial All Stars; the only aspect of Bix’s original performances are re-created in his solos. Featured players include Jon-Erik Kellso (cornet), Dan Levinson (clarinet, alto & C-melody saxophones), Scott Robinson (clarinet, tenor and C-melody saxophones), Matt Munisteri (guitar ) and Vince Giordano (bass, bass saxophone), among others. Vocals are by James Langton, Barbara Rosene and The Manhattan Rhythm Kings.
Are You Sure You Three Guys Know What You’re Doing? from pianist Mike Jones, bassist Penn Jillette, and drummer Jeff Hamilton, plays off the question often put to Moe, Larry and 
Curly/Shemp when the Stooges showed up in the garb of plumbers or house painters or even medical doctors. Jillette is perhaps the most famous and irreverent magician of his generation. So what’s he doing walking the bass with two veteran jazz musicians? That question was partly answered by The Show Before the Show, the duo album that Jones and Jillette released in 2018. When Jones was invited to become musical director for Penn & Teller in 2002, the gig came with one catch: his opening set would be a duo with Penn, who’d recently challenged himself to pick up the upright bass at the age of 48.
Jazz singer Vanessa Racci is an ambassador for the Italian jazz heritage. On her first album, Italiana Fresca, released in 2017, she sang the Italian songs of her childhood in 
the language of jazz. On this second album, Jazzy Italian, she revisits songs associated with many of the Italians and Italian-Americans who have left their mark on jazz from its inception through to modern day. Pianist-arrangers, Steven Feifke and Glafkos Kontemeniotis play the album, which includes “Betcha I Getcha” (Giuseppe Venuti, Bix Beiderbecke), “Volare” (Domenico Modugno, Franco Migliacci, Dean Martin), “At the Jazz Band Ball” (Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields, Johnny Mercer), her own “Come Back Home With Me” and more.
After Japanese vocalist Masumi Ormandy released her debut album in 2016, Sunshine in Manhattan, a world of opportunities opened 
up for her. During the past seven years, she has released three CDs in Japan and has toured extensively, considering she followed her dream to become a singer, making her debut at the age of 77. Now 84 years young, she’s released Beyond the Sea, with A-list musicians including Bria Skonberg, Houston Person, Sara Caswell and many more. The album is an anthology of songs that reflect Ormandy’s life view.
Yuka Mito’s Love In The City expresses her affection for New York City where her jazz life began. She is joined by pianist Allen Farnham, bassist Dean Johnson and drummer Tim Horner for a set of fresh interpretations of standards, plus the debut of two of her originals. The program begins with a joyful “I Got Rhythm,” with the rarely-heard verse, scat in her own style and guest alto-saxophonist Vincent Herring. Also included is her “Memory Of Father,” an original and affectionate song about her late father, remembering both childhood experiences and his last days.
